Can you apply Google's 20% time in the classroom?

Google offers its engineers 20% of their timetable to work on their own projects. Keen to see if it could work for education,
Stuart Spendlow introduced the idea to his own classroom

20% time developed a class of intrinsically motivated learners who strive to make themselves proud without any fear whatsoever of making mistakes, says Stuart Spendlow. Photograph: Paul Doyle/Alamy Paul Doyle / Alamy/Alamy

I love learning and am a big advocate of creativity. So when I read about Google's concept of '20% Time' I knew I had to find a way of sneaking it into the ethos of my classroom.

In short, Google offers its engineers 20% of their timetable to work on their own projects – things that they are truly passionate about and not things necessarily in their job description. Fairly radical. And I couldn't help thinking, if it works for Google, could it work for education?

Some teachers out there are using it (some don't give it a title) and therefore I planned to launch 20% time in my classroom at the start of the fifth term and, naturally, I wanted to make a big thing of it to the children. After announcing the inclusion of it into the timetable (one or two hours per week on an already highly-flexible timetable), children were buzzing with ideas and interests. They were discussing ideas with their parents and they were gathering resources or researching relevant material. Of course, I had to ensure that a few guidelines were in place to maintain standards, and they were:

• It must be some type of learning and you must document it in your Homework Diary• This work, and all other work, must be of the highest standard• It may be continued at home• You have access to most resources as long as the use can be justified• You may work in groups of up to four people

Once I felt prepared and confident with the launch, I presented the idea to my head teacher – preferring to show that I was organised, ready and bursting with enthusiasm, rather than just discussing a half-considered idea. Luckily, she was absolutely wonderful in trusting me to try it out and we had an agreement that, should it prove unsuccessful, I would drop it immediately.

Each child spent a three-minute 'meeting' with me to discuss and document their ideas and, most importantly, what they would be learning and achieving with their project. They had to be critical too - what did they need to improve upon? What did they genuinely want to learn? Each child left the meeting with a clear idea on their learning and a rough idea of what the success criteria would look like. The best part? Each and every child had an intrinsic desire to learn. Promise.

As the 20% time sessions began flowing over the next couple of weeks, the atmosphere was remarkable. I spent a good 20 minutes (and I'll happily admit this) just sitting and observing the children. Did they even need me anymore?

In reality, these sessions were the busiest sessions that I'd be involved with. Effectively monitoring so many different projects to ensure definite, powerful learning isn't a laid back task. But it's lovely. Advice and feedback comes naturally too – generally from the children, not me.

Projects began to take shape as weeks went by and children rarely lost focus. If they did, they soon got it back by looking at what they set out to learn and improve upon. A proportion of the learning that took place was also serendipitous (a type of learning that I'm beginning to fall in love with) - learning things that they hadn't necessarily set out to learn along the way.

The range of interests in my class included films, cars, animals, console games, sewing, cookery, and so much more. Children have produced books, magazines, websites, guides, film reviews, storybooks, artwork and presentations. And the greatest thing about them all; the content is of an exceptionally high quality.

Any initiative or something a little different is never without sceptics – the people that challenge an idea and pick it to pieces. However, without them, concepts such as this would lack strength. People certainly questioned why I wanted to implement this initiative. That was easy.

Extrinsic motivation can only go so far in education and, above all else, I want my pupils to be people who enjoy learning. In fact, don't we all?

Data-lovers will be thrilled to know that progress made by children was generally above what I would have expected. 20% time was not solely the credit-taker for that, but it has definitely had an impact - you only have to have looked at the attitudes of the class. Children worked hard on their other work to ensure 20% time and their standards were higher - if their own projects were so good, they must be capable of doing that with other work too, right?

The concept also catered for children with special educational needs or children who struggle with staying on-task. With a little careful monitoring from me, they just got on; seeking support as and when it was required from whoever they felt was right for the job. In fact, they really shined.

20% time developed a class of intrinsically motivated learners who strive to make themselves proud without any fear whatsoever of making mistakes. They were flexible, found solutions to problems and they offered realistic advice to their peers - appreciating the importance of interdependence within society. Their projects were memorable and they were unique - bursting with creativity.

I've received many emails from schools up and down the UK asking me to support the inclusion and growth of 20% time with them. I sincerely hope that 20% time will be a part of my timetable until the day I leave the teaching profession.